


Diverge

by Anonymous



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe, The Vice Quadrant - Steam Powered Giraffe (Album)
Genre: Gen, Medical Procedures, Non-consensual Medical Procedures, Organ Transplantation, Space Flight, Space Opera, Suicidal Thoughts, The Vice Quadrant (Album)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 04:30:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14012220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A look at Peter Walter IV, and how one man can become two very different people: one who wishes death on himself, and one who wishes death on everyone else.My own interpretation of The Vice Quadrant.





	1. Burning in the Stratosphere

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter count is subject to change, but I've got the story structure roughly sketched out.
> 
> Comments are appreciated, but just so you're aware: I won't be replying to any until after the fic's finished. Nothing against anyone who leaves feedback, it's just the way I find it easiest to get things done. (Same reason I'm publishing this anonymously.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Peter Walter IV**

Eighteen months in space. I've seen the plans for the Cosmo, there's no room to stand or even sit. It's a coffin, surrounded by nothing, thousands of miles away from anything worth giving a damn.

I could die in there, without her by my side. Wouldn't even be able to talk to her. Voice comms use up valuable power, they say. Mission-critical communication only.

Heartless bastards.

The countdown, broadcast on TV all over the world. Dwight's on board too, ensuring the launch goes to plan, but of course I'm the main event. It's my last chance to tell her I love you, I'll be back for you, just eighteen short months and I'll be holding you once more, just as if I'd never left--

And then launch. That's it. Eighteen long months before I get to hold her again. I'll be counting down the seconds till I'm home.

I've done this before, though never for this long. My ship shoots through the atmosphere, wreathed in flame, and I wish for something to go wrong, for the fire to flood through the oxygen tanks and send us crashing back down.

Maybe they'd rescue me, maybe they wouldn't. They'd rescue their precious equipment, for sure, and... no, I'm the only one with the scientific knowledge they need. Of course they'd rescue me. Pat out the flames on my space suit and throw me back up in space again. Can't they ever just leave me in peace?

I managed to bring the locket, at least. Non-regulation gear, but I convinced the man doing the final checks to let me keep it. Can't look at it now, not trapped under my space suit (unless I tear it open and doom myself in the process, which sounds like a better idea with each passing minute). But even feeling it nestled by my heart is... some comfort, rather than none. I'll need to see her face in the dark days and nights to come.

Dwight's a good man. At least I'll have someone there. But by God, I already miss Holly. And in eighteen months, there'll be plenty more time for that.


	2. Progress and Technology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The Astronaut**

I died in my sleep last night.

The changes are subtle, but I can't help noticing regardless: my heartbeat's firmer than I've ever felt it, in an unfamiliar way. I'm used to the slight stutter and weak pulsing. This is strange. It doesn't quite feel like part of me.

I'm sure I'd be noticing this even if they hadn't left a message for me, but the words left in my mind confirm it:

**Hope you slept well, Peter! Your heart failed at 01:39 Pacific Standard Time this morning, but as thanks for your great service to the world, we've transmitted you a new one in perfect working order! Make the most of it, and know that all your friends at Biotech Beyond are wishing you a great day!**

**PS. We see this is your first organ replacement, so if you're worried at all, just dial yourself some Happy or some Peace of Mind and it'll be gone in a flash.**

They want me to press a button and pretend this never happened. How can they expect that from me? They've invaded my body overnight and injected something strange into me, and at no point did I get a say in the matter. I'm not simply going to ignore it!

Could they not have left me to die in peace? _Will_ they ever let me die?

I can only remember fragments of my dream last night; it's been slipping away since I woke up to the message. But I know that in my dream, I was suspended in void, held by invisible hands that moved me against my will... is this my brain's way of processing whatever sensations I must have felt? A subconscious knowledge that my body will never be under my own control?

Holly's still asleep. It calms my soul to see her so peaceful, though not to the extent that I can forget what's been done to me. Nor can I forget that I'm leaving her again soon. My time aboard the Cosmo was eighteen months of hell, and now they've seen fit to sentence me to three years of additional research on the moon base. It may as well be a temporary death sentence; I'll exist, but I won't live.

But for now, for these precious moments, I have Holly. I'll treasure her, I'll love her with all my heart... even if it isn't my own.


End file.
